Chapter 1

From a distance the boy had been watching her all night. She'd gone into the mini-shrine around midnight for about an hour then come back out and stopped by the tree. There had been no movement since, so when the sun peeked over the horizon and she finally stood, he'd stood too. Dusting dirt from the back of his jeans, the boy turned to face her direction again, but instead of finding her still starring at the mini-shrine or moving towards the house, she was digging through her backpack.

He'd thought it odd that she would take a pack obviously full-to-the rim into the mini-shrine, as though she was going on some extended journey, yet when she'd returned, the pack had seemed smaller. Now in the full morning light he could tell that the pack was certainly less bulky. Perhaps she had left some of its contents in the mini-shrine for some reason. One of his friends that they both knew had said she was performing a strange, western ceremony in the mini-shrine. That she spent weeks at a time in there and had been seen on numerous occasions coming and going from the shrine did not help to refute the claims.

On an interested and concerned hunch he had come to see for himself the previous evening. Her grandfather given the excuse that she was visiting an acupuncture institute about an hour outside Tokyo in order to correct some strange dreams she was having. Adding this excuse to the obvious lies that the old man had told in the past, he had decided to stakeout the shrine and see what was really going on. Finding a comfortable knoll of grass near the far wall, he was able to watch both the mini-shrine doors and the backdoor to the house. He'd only had to wait a little while for her to come out into the yard. Apparently flustered about something but not really stopping to notice her surroundings, she'd gone straight into the house where he'd heard her declare that she was home and that she was going to clean-up and go back. He'd stayed out of curiosity.

She straightened from her bag, facing the tree with something in her hand. From his point of view it didn't look like much, maybe a pen or a pencil, except that it was about the length of her forearm. The best he could figure it was a stick. The skeptical voice in the back of his mind snorted in disgust, been here all night and it turns out everyone was right. She is crazy. He shrugged it off and watched her examine the piece of wood as the morning light began to grow stronger. When she turned her gaze up to the tree, he caught the reflection of metal in the growing rays of sun. He left the wall, approaching her from the back, concern and interest etched in his face and glowing from his eyes. She did not hear him, did not notice his shadow, and portrayed the perfect image of one who thought she was alone in the world.

He was ready to reach out and touch her, to figure out what the hell was going on, when she stepped up to the tree. She reached the roots and began to climb. Once she was level with the prayer beads, apparently studying the ancient scar in the bark, he was beginning to believe that perhaps she had been in a mental institute. She reached out and touched the scar, sobbing as though it hurt her to even look at it.

He hadn't realized she was crying. She seemed so strong all the times he had admired her from across a yard, or spoken about her to their mutual friends, but here she stood, crying because a thousand year-old tree had seen a rough time probably half a millennium ago. She dropped back a little, holding the stick to her chest in her right hand, the other in a loose fist at her side. He didn't understand.

The twitch of muscle was minute, causing her action to be laser fast when she turned slightly and struck the tree. But she didn't really hit it. She had jammed the stick into the center of the ancient scar, though looking at it now he could tell it was an arrow. An incredibly authentic looking arrow, which she had somehow managed to ram pretty deep into the trunk. He stepped back a little, unsure of the situation though certainly intrigued.

She did not release she arrow's shaft immediately, but rather stood gripping it, head bowed, her other hand still fisted. He thought for a moment she resembled a statue, frozen in harmony with the tree for all eternity, but then her shoulders began to shake and the soft sound of tears drifted on the morning breeze to him. It broke his heart and prompted him to act.

Climbing up the roots, he decided that if he were going to mean as much to her as she meant to him, he'd have to act carefully. He didn't want to seem overbearing or perverted, yet the strange music that her sobs composed almost overrode his own emotional composure. It made him want to grab her and hold on tight, banishing whatever it was that was hurting her now.

She still did not know he was there, so when he came level with her and reached a gentle hand to her arm, she turned as if on a dime and backed up to the trunk, the arrow on her right about chest high. She focused on him for a second, confusion and tears causing her to blink several times before finally recognizing the boy who stood before her. It was certainly a shock, but there was no pity or anger in his eyes, only concern and something else, something she didn't quite know.

They stood for a time, watching one another as the morning sun peeked through rooftops and trees to shadow them with a wild pattern of light and dark. Neither spoke beyond the conversation that seemed to pass through their eyes.

Let me help, his said. But you cannot. You are not the cause, she thought in response to the pools of blue and crystal. You are not the cause and I cannot tell you who is or why. I'm sorry. She dropped her gaze, focusing on roots at their feet.

He seemed to hear her thoughts. The hand on her arm that he had not released gave a slight squeeze. She had to center herself on the present, and on the person standing in front of her in order to control her emotions. In order to banish the image in her mind that was causing her so much anguish. She looked again at the boy, at the man he had become since she'd first met him, at the friend she had and the lover she could have. The look in his eyes had changed.

It was one friend asking another for trust enough to comfort. He wanted to love her and be loved in return, but right now, right here, there was something else between them. Whatever it was that was hurting her inadvertently hurt him too. Her suffering and torment was obviously longstanding, but he wanted her to see that she would not be alone anymore if she would let him in. He didn't need to know everything, he already knew enough, he just wanted to help.

They saw this in each other. He could see her pain and she could see the comfort he offered. It was only a matter of accepting or turning away. In the back of her spine she felt a tingle, a presence she never felt unless the half-demon was around. It was enough to crack her resolve and bring the tears to her cheeks again. She crumpled before the other, as though the pain was in her heart, which it was, and it was cutting her in two

There was a great battle within him. She had not given him permission to be her confidant, her support, yet his own feelings were screaming for him to take the step she had not cleared, to reach out for her. He knew he must not be tentative in whatever action he took, and as she tried to regain control of herself he made his choice and drew her to him.

Wrapping strong arms around her shoulders and gently cradling her head to his neck, Hojo spoke the first words of their conversation.

"Cry, Kagome. Just cry..."

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Chapter 2

Kagome had seen them, and he knew it, and he wasn't going to do anything about it, yet.

InuYasha paced like a caged tiger around the well. She would have to come back out sometime or other, or he reasoned, he could always go see her, but that wouldn't do. He actually wasn't sure yet what his decision would be. Kagome was probably already sure he'd gone back to Kikyo, it only took one incident to let someone in on that and now Kagome had witnessed it twice.

Once when he'd kissed Kikyo and just recently, when he'd held her close, told her he'd keep her safe, and basically given her his life. But on the matter of his heart, he still debated back and forth. It was extra confusing since they both looked so much alike and that they shared a reincarnated soul. Kagome was defiantly a unique person, not like anyone he'd ever met but so had Kikyo been, and he had been prepared to become human for the dead priestess.

Yet the situation was complicated. He supposed he could have fallen for Kagome had Kikyo not been raised in a body of bone and earth. He could have come around to enjoying Kagome's company and just transferred his emotions from one to the other, as though nothing had changed. As though Kagome were Kikyo.

Having both women alive and around him made it into what it was, a mess. He could no longer see Kagome as Kikyo's replacement. He couldn't just give Kikyo his heart either, now that he knew there was another so much like her in appearance yet a completely separate and intriguing person. He had enjoyed Kikyo's company when she was alive in a much different way than he enjoyed Kagome's now. The original priestess had always acted her station, never making friends with other humans because she was more powerful and wise, yet at the same time being everyone's savior as her duty to the Shikon-no-Tama demanded. The woman had been an enigma to InuYasha from the moment he'd first seen her and he supposed their relationship, born of adverse conditions, was an incredible phenomenon.

Yet the relationship between himself and Kagome was also the product of stress, danger, and the Shikon Jewel. Evaluating it objectively, he actually found himself amused at the ironic similarities of both him and Kikyo, and him and Kagome's situations. The most distinguishing difference being that Kikyo normally wanted to kill him and presently he suspected it was Kagome that would wish him bodily harm. It brought his current bind back into context.

He stopped pacing and starred at the well, almost willing her to return. There had been no way for him to guess what she was thinking, what she was suspecting and assuming. All he knew was that she had seen him and Kikyo, had looked at him with a devastating and angry look in her eyes, and then had taken off. His senses had long ago lost the distinctive sweetness of her presence, being she was alive and gave off a much more pleasing aura than Kikyo, yet he'd not been able all night to go into the well, to follow, apologize for before, and explain for Kikyo. Feeling the morning sun finally reach his back across the horizon, he understood in himself that he wanted them both.

He wanted the mature and clear-witted Kikyo to guide him in his life, in order to make mistakes and learn from them properly, so that he had a mother figure almost. He wanted Kagome too, someone presently his own age who he could relate to, who he could get into trouble around without feeling guilty or childish. He loved them both as one person, which was probably dangerous, but he could manage. He was after all the son of a demon lord, the result of a human and demon love. Why shouldn't he love both a demon and a human? It was part of his nature, right?

Having decided InuYasha approached the well and crossed into Kagome's futuristic Tokyo. The shrine was empty but for a few moths fluttering about in the morning light that seeped in between wallboards. He paid them no mind, his demon senses telling him he was alone in the building. At the door he paused, a strange sense of panic and foreboding suddenly clogging his throat. Around his neck the ward beads seemed to become heavier causing him to go down on one knee. Unsure what was happening and realizing he may soon need help, InuYasha reached out to the door and opened it, perhaps not more than five or six inches. He could see Kagome, her back to the Goshinboku tree, apparently pinned there by an arrow. In front of her was a man, perhaps a little older, slightly taller, and he was just standing there, his hand on her arm, watching her as she was watching him.

The scene reminded InuYasha of Kikyo gazing at him after she has magically sealed him in a pseudo death that lasted 50 years. The day Kagome had freed him there'd been an ache in his chest he'd never realized was there, a sort of incompleteness that had since been slowly filled. He'd thought he'd never feel it again, that it was gone, but as he watched, it began to return mixing with his rising anger.

The rising tide of emotion brought him strength and an iron resolve. He must protect that which was his. Struggling, InuYasha tried to get to his feet, to come closer to Kagome and release her from this man's spell, since it was obvious that he'd shot her to the tree. The beads became heavier and he lost his footing completely. On all fours, head bowed from the weight around his neck, the half-demon cursed under his breath. What the hell was going on?

Kagome, he thought. I have to help Kagome... He looked up in time to see her double over at the waist as though in pain. The bastard was still touching her too, almost oblivious to her pain. InuYasha gritted his teeth and called out to her.

"KAGOME!" His strong voice rattled off the walls, echoing up into the rafters of the mini-shrine. "KAGOME," he roared, but she did not move, did not hear him.

He'd just drawn the breath to yell again, this time willing to risk straining his voice in order to be heard, but he stopped suddenly as the man with Kagome moved. The bastard wrapped his arms around her, using one to cradle her head to his shoulder. The motion showed InuYasha that Kagome was not pinned to the tree, because the arrow still stuck out of the trunk just beyond where she'd stood, previously giving the illusion that it went through her. He felt a tiny part of the panic inside him lessen, but not much. He was still in a sticky situation, weighted to the floor by the prayer beads, and unable to be heard outside the shrine.

Thinking that if he could get through the door, maybe Kagome would be able to hear him, InuYasha rocked on his hands and knees, trying to get some momentum behind his weight, hoping to fling himself out the door. It didn't work. The instant he went to stand, to launch his body forward, the weight increased again and he ended up on his stomach, his nose to the rough wood floor, and a whole two inches away from the outside world. Knowing Kagome would not hear him he began cursing, saying anything that came to mind. He felt like he'd just been sat.

Wrenching his head up, InuYasha looked out the door to where Kagome was now crying softly in the man's arms. Her shoulders shook slightly with each sob and he could hear her dainty snorts and gasps as she let her emotions go. He knew too, why she was so upset. He'd done it.

Painful though it was, InuYasha watched the two, or more specifically, he watched Kagome. He didn't know what he was going to say or how he would clean up the mess he'd obviously made. He chastised himself for not stopping her before she'd left and then for not coming to find her sooner. Even coming now seemed to have been the wrong move, added to that he had to watch another man offer comfort to one of the women he held claims to.

Kagome calmed, and raised her head. InuYasha watched as the two looked at one another for a long few minutes, as though communicating silently, before Kagome spoke.

Though the distance from the well shrine to the Goshinboku tree would have made it impossible for any normal being to eavesdrop on the conversation, InuYasha, having demon blood to improve his senses, could hear just fine.

"Thank you," she said, a small hiccup escaping her throat afterwards. She apologized for the sound, touching her lips with her right hand and blushing slightly.

The man smiled, the arm he'd held around her shoulders slowly lowering to her waist. InuYasha felt hot demon anger filling his entire being, his claws digging destructively into the floor and leaving deep rents in the wood. He wanted to kill the man, that was all there was to it, he simply would have to kill him and then rip him to pieces and then burn everything to ashes and then, then mix those ashes with manure and make his brother eat it. A smug smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.

The man brought his far hand up and tucked Kagome's hair behind her ear. InuYasha watched his expression change though as he looked down at Kagome. Unsure what held his attention, InuYasha squinted his eyes, though it was not necessary, to try to discern what it was that the bastard human found so disconcerting.

"You hurt yourself," his sickening, male human voice said.

InuYasha watched as he drew the hand at her mouth down between them. Though he could not see the wound he could smell it. There was a subtle sweet and metallic taint to the air, but it seemed to come from the arrow more than from Kagome. He saw her turn to face the trunk, her back to the human man, and noticed for the first time where exactly the arrow was in the tree.

Since his release from Kikyo's spell, there had developed a scar in the bark of the tree. The rough outer shell was broken here, where the powerful aura of Kikyo's arrow had pushed the bark back, almost as though the tree had sought to take InuYasha inside it. When Kagome had released him form the arrow, had awakened him after only 50 years of sleep, he'd not wanted to ever see the tree again, the towering shrine too painful a remembrance of his past. After time though, it hadn't been so bad. He'd come to see the Goshinboku tree as a symbol of his rebirth almost, his second chance to do things right and to make his dreams come true. But Kagome had stabbed the tree with an arrow. The reincarnated soul of the woman who had initially trapped him, the only difference this time being he had not been between the arrow and the tree at the time.

He had been so caught up in his thoughts that he did not notice Kagome and the man had climbed down to the ground and were standing back, looking up at the tree. The half-demon dragged himself a little across the floor so he could see out the door to where they were standing. The man reached over, flipped Kagome's pack shut, hefted it onto one shoulder, and then turned to the silent girl who stood next to him.

"Come on." He took her hand and she looked down at their joined appendages. InuYasha noticed that she didn't hold his hand also, but rather let her relaxed fingers be held. "I'll help you clean your hand and maybe we'll go get something for breakfast."

Because he made a statement instead of asking the question, InuYasha doubted Kagome would comply. It was the hardest thing he'd ever had to watch when her fingers slowly grasped the man's and she turned her back on the tree, walking silently at another's side away from the half-demon.

She chose him, his mind whispered. "No," InuYasha spoke to himself, his own sarcastic tone adding salt to the wound, "I chose him in choosing Kikyo."

Once the two figures had begun moving towards the house they'd passed out of his line of sight. Alone and still carpeting the floor, InuYasha began to worry about his predicament more than his slowly failing relationship with Kagome. It seemed that the weight around his neck lessened the more he thought about going home. He was eventually able to push himself up off the floor, sitting back on his heels. InuYasha took a moment to study the ward that hung apparently harmlessly about his neck. It didn't show any signs of the strange magic it possessed only minutes before. Maybe it had something to do with Kagome's change of heart towards him.

Flustered and not a tiny bit exhausted, he collected himself and turned back to the well. Once on the other side, at home again in his time, InuYasha crossed the short distance to the Goshinboku tree and stood looking at the scar in its bark. He did not even hear the approaching footsteps.

"Where is Lady Kagome?"

Giving the priest a side-glance, InuYasha found that Miroku was wearing a kitsune cub on his shoulder and a slightly suspicious look on his face. Shippou seemed ready to pounce on the half-demon if he did not like the answer and Miroku's staff of rings jingled innocently as the priest impatiently drummed his finger on the shaft.

"She's at home in her time," he said, looking back up the tree. "I went to see her but I don't know when she's coming back."

The kitsune cub narrowed his eyes, glaring daggers at InuYasha. "What'd you do to her, you asshole? Did you make her angry again?"

"HA! Hardly. Especially after she kept me from killing that Kouga jerk. If anyone should be angry it should be me!" He swung away from them and began stalking back towards the village. That and now she's cheating on me…

"Then what did happen?"

Miroku's question sobered him instantly. "Well, she saw Kikyo and me, and she left."

"Right, we established that last night, InuYasha. What I want to know is what happened just now, when you were in her country?"

InuYasha looked at his two friends. There were standing tears in the cub's eyes and Miroku was beginning to look angrier by the second. He sighed, letting the weight of exhaustion stoop his shoulders.

"Lets go back to Kaede's, okay." Without waiting for an answer he turned and began walking.

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Chapter 3

It was a strange feeling to complete an entire week of school without InuYasha showing-up to pick a fight, without some strange demon or human attacking her for the Shikon-no-Tama, and without flunking one of the major tests she'd been cramming for. In light of recent times, it was a week of paradise so Kagome felt sure that starting bright and early that morning she would be faced with some difficulty to make her next week a living hell. Lying awake in bed, daylight peeking through the lace pattern of her curtain, she let her mind wonder why everything had been so calm. She had not been in the well shrine since leaving the week before, because she knew that seeing InuYasha again was going to be hard enough, there really was no reason in her mind to shorten her time at home. Plus Hojo had become one of her best friends.

The guy had made a habit of coming to get her before school everyday, spending time with her at lunch and during breaks, and then walking her home after school. Though normally they would intend to go straight back to the shrine, she realized that usually there would be a park, or new store, or interesting tangent that would capture their attention and lead them off the path. Yesterday, after finding out she'd passed one of her exams, Hojo'd taken her to the ice cream parlor and they'd shared a chocolate shake.

She'd not had that much fun, just shooting the breeze and venting her anxiety about life, with someone who actually listened. Before Kagome had always just thought, "Hojo, the guy I don't have time for, is not as interesting as all the stuff I go through with InuYasha, and a normal person." Now after only a week she knew better.

Rising, dressing, and heading down to breakfast, she was not surprised to see a note from her mother saying the rest of the family had gone out. At the hospital again, Kagome thought. Probably treating Grandpa for his arthritis. She dug in the fridge for a moment, finding that they needed to go to the store, and ended up settling for a couple of bananas. A breakfast of champions…

With her meal in hand, Kagome wandered out of the house and into the backyard. The arrow she'd stabbed into the tree was still there, of course. Hojo had not asked her about it yet though she knew he'd seen her walk up to the tree and put it there. He'd carried her pack into the house last weekend, helped her get cleaned-up after her nightlong vigil, and then silently patched her up. They'd gone out for some food then, rented a VCR and some movies, and then come back to her place to sit and vegetate for the rest of the day. He hadn't asked her about the shrine, the arrow, her reason for being upset, or what she was going to do next. He had simply kept her company, promised to see her tomorrow, and left. It had been the best thing for her then, and now she felt ready to deal with the whole problem.

After packing a reasonable lunch, a few medical provisions, and some extra clothes in case she decided to stay, Kagome wrote a quick note to her family, then sat down for a moment to write a separate one for Hojo. She folded it in a special way he'd taught her, printed his name gracefully on the front, and taped it to the front door.

Walking hesitantly towards the mini-shrine she began to work out in her mind what she was going to say. First of all there was the Kikyo thing. Though five days ago it still hurt incredibly to think about, Hojo had helped her get through that. It still sucked and caused her to feel used and not the tiniest bit cheap, but she was doing better. Second, there was the Shikon-no-Tama. If both her and Kikyo were going to be looking for the shards now, then who was the real priestess and who was the extra? She knew she'd have to watch her and InuYasha interact, which would be hard at first, but with Kikyo around she could also spend more time at home. InuYasha would not have to have her there to search for the Shikon Jewel because Kikyo could see and sense the Jewel's aura just as Kagome could. It would give Kagome more time with her family, for school, and for Hojo.

She stopped at that thought. More time for Hojo, or more time for Hojo and me, she pondered. It made her smile to think about. With a light heart she jumped into the past.

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Chapter 4

Shippou had been waiting within earshot of the well for the entire week. He wanted to be the first to see Kagome when she came back, to be the first to apologize for InuYasha's stupidity, and to beg her not to go back. For him it had been the longest week of his short life. It was bad enough when Kagome went home for her tests and to see her family and to attend events she swore she had to be at, but the last week she had been gone because InuYasha had cheated on her with Kikyo. The dumb dog had actually thought he could have both women, and the story he'd told, of Kagome stabbing the tree and the strange human man that was with her, had caused Shippou to have endless nightmares since she'd been gone. Sometimes he even had waking nightmares, like now, when his dream became a hallucinations and he almost lost his mind thinking Kagome was back.

The current apparition was climbing over the edge of the well, a moderate sized pack on her back, and scanning her surroundings as though looking for someone. Shippou noticed that this time his nightmare was becoming creative, changing Kagome's hair style to a shoulder length braid instead of being down free, and her clothes too were different. Rather than the normal green and white school uniform she was wearing a pair of fitted blue pants and a sweater with multi-colored stripes. She seemed to hesitate on the well's lip, searching the trees and undergrowth silently, and then turning to gaze in his direction. This was where the nightmares always ended, so Shippou closed his eyes

The pain of loneliness flooded his heart and he felt as he had when the Thunder Brothers had taken his parents. He was helpless and frightened, but all out of tears to cry and not in the mood to go beat on InuYasha again. He snuggled again down into the blanket he had found at Kaede's hut. It was one that Kagome used whenever she was staying in the old witch's house and it smelled of her and him, since he always slept with her. The rough fabric was beginning to loose her scent, replaced by his demon child scent, but if he squeezed it tight enough a little more of her could be extracted. It was just enough to get him through the nights, through the nightmares that plagued his mind and walked with him all day.

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Chapter 5

Kagome sensed the demon the second she was through, but it was not InuYasha. Coming over the well' s rim, she searched the surrounding area for the being that was there. She was worried it might be SesshouMaru or Naraku, in the area to terrorize InuYasha, or even maybe Kikyo, waiting for her to return so she could settle the score, but when the tiny huddled form of kitsune cub caught her eye, Kagome almost burst into tears. It was obvious he'd been waiting for her in the forest and knowing Shippou, he'd been there all week. Feeling guilty and selfish, Kagome quickly went to the cub's side.

He was wrapped around a blanket that she identified as the one then slept under when staying at Kaede's. His little nose was buried in its folds and he appeared to be crying. Feeling like she had the first time Souta'd gotten hurt, Kagome carefully reached out and stroked a hand down the cub's head and back. He seemed to moan and shake a little and then she heard the tiny sobbed that he could no longer contain.

She was crying too, silent tears streaking her cheeks, as she continued to rub his back.

"Shippou?" The kitsune seemed to form a tighter ball. "Sweetie, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have stayed away."

She was having trouble speaking now, the tears having reached into her throat and tightly grasped her voice. She didn't know what else to say. She was truly sorry for staying away and inside she began to hate herself for wanting to go back so badly, for wanting to see Hojo again. She was ready to just scoop the cub up into her arms when he rolled back al looked at her.

Not sure exactly what to do, Kagome grasped his little hand and squeezed. He shifted his gaze from her face to their enjoined hands, and then crawled into her lap. Holding onto her torso, his child's hands clutching her sweater and his face to her shoulder, Shippou cried.

Kagome held him too, rocking back and forth, as she tried to calm both him and herself. She spoke to him too, promising she'd never just leave him like hat again, that she'd always come back for him until she couldn't, until she died. There were lofty promises but she would do it. She would brave seeing InuYasha, brave disrupting her normal life in Tokyo, and brave the dangers that could always come for her on this side of the well, all just to see this cub. He was her little brother, her child almost, and she would never abandon him again.

Shippou cried himself to sleep in her arms, sniffling and hiccupping occasionally until finally snoozing with deep even breaths. Kagome continued to hold the cub, letting his slumbering peacefulness ease her own emotional disorder. It hurt inside because she's betrayed him and almost lost him. It scared her to think he would have stayed by the well for too long, allowing others to hunt and trap him while he awaited her return. She had not been a good friend to him or Sango or Miroku, but the others understood somewhat, being human and older than the kitsune. Shippou was just too young still, that and he had sort of adopted InuYasha and Kagome as his parents after they saved him. Kagome worried anew that he'd think her leaving was his fault, as she had when her father died.

Gathering the blanket from Kaede's hut around him, she carefully rose and began walking towards the village. It was a short stroll that took her from the forest, around a few rice fields, and into the small collection of grass and wood huts, a storage house for food and goods, and a few animal enclosures. Coming to Kaede's tidy yet ancient looking hut, Kagome noticed the shadow of a figure sitting just inside the bamboo mat door. Coming closer she could distinguish the distinctive form of one in prayer, a staff of rings leaning against the figure's chest, and the smell of incense drifted out from behind the door.

Having a sneaking suspicion that Miroku would not appreciate the interruption, Kagome settled down on the bottom step of the hut and waited. She cradled Shippou in her arms and rocked him slightly, occasionally running her hand through his hair and tail. He sighed and snuggled her the entire time, like a kitten begging for more attention. A slight smile on his face told her he was dreaming of pleasant things.

"Children bruise and recover quickly, but that doesn't mean they don't feel pain," Kaede said softly from behind her.

From the bottom step Kagome looked over her shoulder to where Kaede and Miroku were watching her with the kitsune. Kaede wore an expression of concern and Miroku's was similar only with a touch of admiration.

"I know. I apologize for being gone so long, and for not letting you know,' she said then dropped her gaze to Shippou. "I didn't think I could handle seeing InuYasha."

Above her Miroku felt the hot rage he'd been curbing all week return. After InuYasha had told them what had happened with Kikyo and that Kagome had seen it all, he'd wanted to trap the half-demon in his own ward for an eternity as punishment. He had ranted and raved at InuYasha that Kagome, unlike Kikyo, was a living feeling person, not some manifestation of earth and bone. In her current form Kikyo could not truly feel pain and love, all she knew really was revenge and she would never be at rest until she was once again allowed to be dead. From what Kaede had told him, Kikyo had not even wanted to be raised, that the situation had been beyond everyone's control.

InuYasha did not see this or rather he didn't see it until Kagome had taken off, until he'd gone after her and seen her with another man, a human man that had lead her away from the well and InuYasha, back into her own world. When Miroku had head this he'd become concerned and enraged. The half-demon had tried to have both women, and in the process it had seemed it's cost them all Kagome. The priest had been sure she would not return, and had been praying all week for some sign so that Shippou would understand and stop killing himself waiting for her. He was happy now though, looking down on the one person who could hold them together, as she snuggled and protected the little fox.

"Why not come inside, Kagome. There is much we need to talk about," Miroku's voice seemed emotional and strained but then again Kagome felt hers would be the same. She rose and followed her friends inside.

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Chapter 6

Sango returned from her bath not long after Kagome, Miroku, and Kaede had settled around the pit fire in Kaede's hut. Shippou was still sleeping and Sango commented that it was the first time she'd seen him sleep all week. Kagome blushed at the comment and lowered her head, apologizing softly for the problems her absence had caused.

"It's not your fault, Kagome," Kaede reassured her. "There were other factors too, other people involved that shifted the situation into what it has become. The best we can do is getting back to finding the jewel." She paused and Kagome noticed that Miroku and Sango seemed to look away at Kaede's mention of the Shikon-no-Tama.

Prompted by this Kagome turned to the old woman, "did something happen while I was gone." Just to make matters worse, she thought.

Kaede sighed heavily, as though feeling her age then looked Kagome straight in the eyes. "Kikyo stole what shards of the Jewel we had. After you left, InuYasha went out hunting the shards alone with her and came back completely empty handed. We'd decided to let him hold on to some of the shards we had since he was the only person who could travel through the well to you. He said he'd go through again to bring you the shards after he'd collected some more."

"Again?" Kagome asked.

Kaede's gaze shifted to Sango and then Miroku before she continued, "Kikyo attacked two days ago. She used her dead souls to immobilize us and then steal the shards. We haven't seen her since."

There seemed to be a strange silence among them then. Kagome was amazed that so much had gone on while she was away. She knew she had needed the break but apparently it had not been a good time. Then there was also the mystery of when InuYasha had come to see her. Had it been right after Kikyo had betrayed him, had stolen the shards? Or had it been earlier or perhaps sometime when she was out with Hojo? The possibility of InuYasha seeing her with Hojo scared her for Hojo's safety. She knew the half-demon had a horrible sense of possession when it came to anything he considered his property, people included. She didn't put it past him to scare Hojo off so she would not become distracted.

Her panic coming to a head, Kagome rounded on the priest and demanded know when InuYasha had first come for her.

"Well, the morning after you left." His gaze did not shift, asked her silently to verify what InuYasha had said. "He told us he saw you and a friend of yours at the Goshinboku tree."

Kagome blushed and decided to come clean. "He's more than a friend, Miroku. He has been helping me all week to pull it together, to get everything straightened out. I don't want anyone to be confused about the situation though," she paused, looking each one in the eye, and then glancing at the sleeping kitsune still nestled in her lap. "He's important to me and I will probably be traveling back more often to see him."

"Why?" asked Kaede.

"Because I need him," Kagome said, looking the old woman directly in the eye. "He's been a part of me for a long time but now he's a critical element in my life. If I lose hold of what we've created, if I don't give all I can, then I might as well not exist in that world at all."

She looked at Miroku and Sango in turn, trying to convey to them what it was she felt. She was their friend, and to Shippou she was much more, but her life was not in this time. She could have friends and associations here but her true life had to be in her own time. She was born there and she would hopefully die there. There would be no living in the past, no loving in the past, no staying in the past. Eventually the quest would end and she would go home.

The small group seemed to understand this, having realized it long before, but never speaking out loud what they all would push into the back of their minds. It was out now, though, and as the truth of it sunk in, there was only one thing left to do. Tell InuYasha.

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Chapter 7

Hojo walked with a lively skip and a sort of jig to his step. It was the only day of the week he and Kagome had off and he had every intention of taking her out and showing her a good time. There was a show at the cinema he wanted to see and a new Western style restaurant that had just opened, so dinner was a possibility. And then there was something that made his heart sing and his mind go blank. He wanted to kiss her, had for a long time, and last night he'd been inspired and come up with a great way to ask her. He did a high skip, a little victory dance, and began to whistle.

When the bottom few steps of the shrine came into view he increased his pace then rounded the corner and took the stairs two at a time. Once at the top he was about to knock when he saw the note. It was taped over the doorbell and had his name written on it in Kagome's neat handwriting. His heart sank without even reading it because it obviously meant she was not there, and it could possibly mean she had gone back into the mini-shrine.

Snatching it off the door, Hojo made like a bandit around the main house. He was working open the intricate origami folds as he came up to the tree he'd found her at just the week before. Glancing down he read the first few words then scanned the rest for important information on where she had gone. It said she'd gone to settle something with someone from the past, that she might be gone a few days but would come find him as soon as she returned, she hoped he could understand what she had to do but promised to come back soon.

Hot jealousy flooded his senses. He was angry at whoever it was that she felt she had to justify herself to, this person from the past that was probably also the cause of her distress the previous weekend. Looking up at the tree, he studied the arrow that was still embedded in its trunk. He should have asked her about it, and he took a moment to scold himself for not.

"Hojo?"

He whirled around at the sudden interruption in his world. Kagome's younger brother, Souta, stood there watching the older boy with awe and a twinkle of curiosity.

"Are you going to get Kagome?" The little boy seemed uneasy asking her sister's special friend but looked him straight in the eye as he asked his questions. "Mom was hoping she didn't have to go back any more, and I used to like InuYasha, but now…" The little boy's voice dwindled off and he looked down at the ground beneath his feet.

Hojo's eyes narrowed. Inuyasha? Is that his name, then? "Souta, where has Kagome gone?"

The child looked up, not quite sure if he'd said something wrong or if Hojo was just playing with him. Of course he knew where Kagome had gone off to, he'd wished several times himself that he could follow her, but it was not to be. Their Grandpa said it was a blessing for Kagome and that Souta's role in it all was to remain at home and give her a solid, happy place to come back to. Grandpa scared him and his mother sometimes, saying that Kagome needed something stronger to keep her here, to prevent her from abandoning them for the past. Hojo was now part of that as well.

"She goes into the well-shrine and down into the well." Hojo tilted his head slightly at that, Souta continued quickly. "There's a time portal there and it takes her back to the feudal ages. InuYasha is a dog demon and they are searching for the Shikon-no-Tama so that Kagome can give it to InuYasha and he can become human." The boys voice was whisper soft by the time he finished.

Hojo didn't know what to believe. It was impossible for the entire family to be crazy, especially after the week he'd spent as practically one of the family. And the child before him did not appear to be lying, what he was saying was what he'd been told. It was his tone though, when he spoke of this demon becoming human that tugged at Hojo.

"And what happens when he becomes human, Souta. What happens to Kagome?" He could feel his stomach being to sink even asking the question.

When Souta looked up again there were tears in his eyes. Hojo didn't need to know anymore. Looking up and around the yard he spotted Kagome's mother standing just outside the kitchen door. The woman was holding a note in her hand, likely one from Kagome saying something similar to what Hojo had; the woman was crying while she looked at Hojo, a silent plea in her eyes to bring her daughter back to them all.

Hojo's decision was easy; he just wondered if he would be able to use the well to follow Kagome. Souta had made it sound as though Kagome and this InuYasha were the only ones able to travel back and forth between times. As he entered the dim interior of the well shrine he cared little it if seemed crazy or if he still doubted the mechanics of it all, but he wanted Kagome and he realized he was prepared to do anything to have her. Placing both hands on the rim of the well he gazed in. The bottom did not appear but he guessed it to be about two-dozen feet deep.

He paused for moment to look at her letter again. It was two pages long and he had actually only scanned the first page in his haste to get to the mini-shrine. As he perused the second page he could sense the underlying happiness and uncertainty she felt while writing to him. Every time she mentioned their time together this past week her graceful penmanship seemed to glow and the words almost rhymed. And then there were her paragraphs on what she must do; of the people she owed her time to and the friendships she could not abandon. Though not as happy as other mentions, she did not seem too despondent, only uncertain yet determined. It was the few lines that referred to one individual in particular, the one he assumed must be InuYasha, where the pain and torment he'd felt in her the previous weekend seemed also to be in the writing of her letter. He hated it.

She'd signed it 'With Love'. Hojo stared at the words, not sure if she meant it or if it was just a common conclusion. He decided it wouldn't matter anyways if he couldn't get through the well. Looking down into the pit again, he carefully refolded the letter and stuck it into a pocket. With a final steadying breath, he hefted a leg up and over the rim, plunging into darkness.

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Chapter 8

The dog demon napped in the highest branches of the Goshinboku tree. It was about mid morning and there seemed to be rain in the forecast if the looming clouds had anything to say. He yawned in a lazy manner and idly played with the ward beads. They clanked softly like squirrel bones in a bag. The random thought of rodent bones lead to a thought of rodent meat and a stout grumble in the half-demon's stomach. It had been months since he'd had any squirrel, especially since Kagome's ramen noodles were so much better. Because he'd thought of the girl he slipped a glance at the well, out of habit, and not really expecting to see any movement.

It almost knocked him from his perch to see a shadow emerge from the well, climbing haphazardly up the vine ladder that grew into the dark. The distance did not hinder InuYasha in the least and he immediately recognized that the person coming out of the well was certainly not Kagome. There was more build to this person, more height too, and when the shadows parted and sunlight shown down, there was a flash of blond waves as hair. InuYasha had recently seen another with such hair.

Coming down out of the tree, the half-demon silently stalked the man from behind. He was defiantly the one that'd been with Kagome that morning a week ago. InuYasha smiled to himself, as the familiar demon rage he'd had to work hard to control all week came back, but this time he let it flow into his being, inciting long-dormant blood lust. His prey walked on, in the general direction of the village, completely oblivious to his upcoming demise.

Taking long, solid strides, InuYasha charged into the man's back, knocking him flat. Jumping aside incase the human could actually fight he balanced on a nearby fallen log. His claws throbbed with desire to sink into the man as he gingerly regained his feet. Looking about wildly for what had hit him, a pair of blue eyes met and seemed to recognize a pair of amber ones.

Drawing himself upright, the man dusted his hands together before speaking. "InuYasha, I presume."

The half-demon's eyebrows cocked in a smug expression. "So you think you know me, bastard?" He had to admit though that he'd never expected Kagome to careless enough to give out such private information. He'd thought she might keep it all secret, in order to divert attention from her situation, but since this man knew him, it would be fun to test how much more he'd been told.

Without giving warning, InuYasha launched himself into the air, heading straight towards the human man. Giving him no time to properly escape, the dog demon raked his claws through space at the body before him. The man dodged rather nimbly but not enough to avoid being caught in the arm by the demon's deadly swipe. InuYasha completed his motion, tearing up the round in a set of parallel ribbons, and creating a sound similar to oxen stampeding. The force of his strike shook the forest floor slightly.

Rounding on the man, who now had stumbled back, holding his bleeding arm tightly, near a tree, InuYasha stood his full height and approached slowly.

"The first time I saw you near her I thought you'd pinned her to the tree with an arrow," he said. "It made me want to kill you."

The man's eyes widened, a twinkle of fear finally entering the angry glare that had not left the man's face since InuYasha's first strike. The half-demon continued his slow walk, calm and seemingly composed. He began cracking his knuckles and clicking his claws together, creating a sharpening sound.

"But then you had to go and touch her. That was your first mistake, human." InuYasha quickened over to the man, grabbing him by his shirtfront and launching him through the air. He flew head over heals and landed heavily near the well. Slowly pushing himself up with his good arm, the human looked at the well, perhaps ten feet away, then back over his shoulder to InuYasha.

"You'd never make it." The dog demon paused and let a toothy, evil smile cross his face," plus I can follow."

The man's eyes narrowed, anger obviously taking hold in his mind. InuYasha could smell it.

With more speed that InuYasha had thought to credit him with, the human dove out of his direct line of sight, rolling in the bushes and emerging with a fallen tree branch in his hand. The wound on his other arm now bled freely but seemed to have clotted somewhat.

Though unsure what to make of it, InuYasha was certainly glad for the challenge. He had to admit that killing the guy when he'd never had a chance to defend himself probably wouldn't have been any fun. He had just taken a solid fighting stance when…

"SIT"

InuYasha recognized the forces that pushed him to the ground and his mind cursed silently at the woman who was in control of those forces. Truly it was the old witch that had been the original cause of his problem, but the way Kagome wielded the powerful demon ward, made it hard for him to blame anyone else. Scrambling frantically on the ground, InuYasha felt the anger and fire in his blood seep away. He pushed hopelessly against the magic, more interested in seeing what was going on than in destroying his opponent anymore. However, when he spotted Kagome, the human man slumped in her arms, he began to reconsider his decision.

Miroku strode up behind InuYasha, coming to squat near the dog demon's head.

"Perhaps not the smartest move, InuYasha." An irate growl was his only answer. "At any rate, who is he?"

"He's the bastard I saw Kagome with; the human man I told you about."

The priest's eyebrows rose in curiosity and he stood to go and investigate the new arrival. Behind him InuYasha flailed on the ground in an attempt to rise.

"I'll be okay, it's just a scratch," the man was saying when Miroku reached them.

Still not quite sure, Kagome fretted a moment more over Hojo's arm before asking her questions. "What happened? Did he just attack you without warning?" Hojo nodded in reply then turned to greet Miroku, relieved that someone else was human.

"Hello. I'm Hojo." He smiled pleasantly to the priest, amazed that the well had appeared to work in transporting him into the past. The other man, too, appeared amazed at the new arrival.

Motioning over his shoulder to the dog demon, Miroku cleared his voice before speaking. "He said you're from Lady Kagome's country. That you came through the well?" When the man nodded, Miroku allowed a small smile to ease his features, so this is Kagome's choice… "I am Miroku, and that back there is InuYasha."

"Yes, we've already met." He winced as Kagome used her handkerchief to bind the wound.

Hojo was once again holding his arm when Kagome helped him to his feet. When the trio turned to return to the village, they found their path blocked by InuYasha, who had finally recovered from Kagome's 'SIT'.

"Isn't anyone interested in what he's doing here?" the half-demon snarled.

Miroku shrugged and Kagome glared, but Hojo just took a step forward, meeting the other's gaze eye to eye. The stalemate lasted a few seconds only before Hojo turned and approached Kagome. Releasing his injury for a moment, he grasped her hand confident that she would twine her fingers with his.

"I came to find you, to ask you something."

Kagome blushed and InuYasha raged. Miroku merely began walking, an amused and slightly jovial expression on his face. As he passed InuYasha the half-demon scoffed at him, "something funny, priest."

Pausing for a moment to regard his sour looking friends, he said, "yes, very funny in fact. But I don't expect you would understand." With that said he continued back to the village.

After a moment Kagome followed, leading Hojo by his hand. They seemed to give InuYasha a little distance when passing him and easily caught up to Miroku where he waited on the forest edge. The half-demon did not follow.

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Chapter 9

Kagome wiped her brow and sat back. On the other side of Hojo, Kaede began gathering rags and bandages from the floor. It had taken the two almost a full hour to clean and stitch-up Hojo's arm. It had been recommended that Kagome return to her time with the injured man, by he'd protested, pointing out that there'd be no way to explain sure an injury to the doctor and would probably lead to a police investigation. There were too many rumors flying around about Kagome and her extended time in the well shrine to take the risk. He'd sworn up and down that he would be okay with ancient medical procedures. Hojo'd fainted the moment the needle had pierced his skin.

Kagome sighed as she brushed her fingers through is hair. Kaede finished what she was doing and went to open a window. Neither moonlight nor the smell of a storm came through the opening.

"Tis the new moon," the old woman stated, her voice implying Kagome should finally go talk with InuYasha.

She looked up in time to see Kaede's hunched form exit the room behind a curtain. With a final swipe through the blond silk, Kagome stood and left. She spotted Miroku and Sango talking softly just outside the front door, Shippou was still sleeping in the corner.

"Will you let him know I'll be back if he wakes?"

Sango let her gaze follow Kagome as the girl made her way towards the forest. She was walking as though to her own funeral, one arm rubbing the back of her neck and the other fiddling at her neck where the Shikon shards were. The demon huntress watched until Kagome's figure was only a shadow in the distance before turning to Miroku.

The monk did nothing more than nod acknowledgement to Kagome's request. He had been weaving some strands of grass while listening to what Sango had heard as far as rumors, before Kagome came out. She had really wanted to talk about other things, specifically the man from Kagome's time that was now sleeping off his injuries in the back room of Kaede's hut, but had though it wise to wait for the area to be a little more abandoned.

She drew a breath to speak but was cut off when Miroku said, "I don't' know any more than you do." He looked at her then and shrugged. "InuYasha said he is the one Kagome was with and then they got into a fight when he came through the well." The priest paused, looking back at the fragile green blades he held in his hand. "Kagome favors him greatly, more so than she hinted at, and, I don't think InuYasha is going to apologize easily, especially now that we need her again."

He threw the grass to the side as he rose, dusted his hands together, and held a hand out for her. "Coming?"

Sango looked at the innocent offering then took it. She did not expect him to pull her up with such force, and so overbalanced and fell into him. He didn't exactly catch her in the most coincidental of ways.

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Chapter 10

It was about the time she reached the undergrowth that Kagome heard Sango's distinctive voice enunciating the word 'hentai'. It seemed to echo across the darkened rice fields before being absorbed into the forest. With a shake of her head and a half smile, the Shikon no Miko pushed back a low branch and entered the forest.

There had been a time when she feared the dark and would never have gone off alone into a forest. Even after coming through the well a number of times, Kagome still did not trust her surrounding enough to go into the forest at dark, especially not with the immature, unpredictable, and possibly dangerous half-demon Fate had thrown her into association with hanging around. It was not until after Tetsusaiga had come into the picture that she'd started to settle down and accept her destiny.

What is you destiny, a silent voice asked. Are you supposed to be here, searching with him for the jewel, or is there a reason for what's happened? She stopped for a moment with this question in mind. If I was meant to see InuYasha and Kikyo together then it must be wrong for us to be together. For me to stay here. Her own words to Kaede, Sango, and Miroku came back to her. She wasn't supposed to stay in the past, her life and future were in modern times, and she had to get this through to InuYasha then get Hojo home. Kagome could picture his face with its strong lines and handsome features perfectly. Standing there she could become lost in his eyes and imagine how it would feel to be hugged, even kissed, by him.

A soft breeze whispering through the forest carried her scent along the ground, swirling around a figure that sat hunched beneath a huge Goshinboku tree, before lifting and disappearing into the canopy overhead.

InuYasha looked up at Kagome's approach, though without his demon senses, he could not clearly distinguish who it was. He focused on the shadowed face for a moment then recognized his miko. She climbed the roots and sat next to him, not too close he noticed, with her back to the trunk, watching the forest as he did.

The silence that is not really silent returned, her addition to the scene changing little. She didn't even look at him. InuYasha was not sure what he was supposed to do, say, or how to act. He had defended his own and was not ashamed or sorry for attacking the guy. Hell, he was still praying the bastard would die, then things could get back to normal. But that was the problem with it. Kagome didn't know that Kikyo had betrayed him, stealing the shards, and putting them back to where they were before Kagome had left. Kikyo had only taken a few shards, not the entire chunk Kagome had, but it still ached knowing she been acting the entire time.

InuYasha looked at his human hands. There were scratches from where he'd taken his anger out on a sapling, after having lost his demon strength, and they were dirty, a possible aftereffect of his earlier fight. He could remember only a few days past when he'd held Kikyo's in these hands, that he'd kissed her and touched her face with the greatest of kindness, that he'd imagined his hands on her throat, squeezing the undead life from her, returning the lost souls to that nameless, placeless enigma from whence they came. She'd been cruel too, saying the entire time she's known Kagome was there, faking her emotions and telling InuYasha everything he wanted to hear.

Just remembering sent waves of hot anger and raging hate through his veins. That Bitch will get hers, I promise...

"She only stole a few shards, InuYasha. We'll get them back." Kagome's voice was a sort of soft rain on his burning fire. It took him a minute to realize he'd spoken his last thought out loud.

"Umm, ya..." He looked at his hands for a moment more then turned to her. "Why did you stab the tree?"

Kagome flinched visibly, even in the total darkness. She didn't really want to talk about it and had been eternally grateful to Hojo for never asking.

"Well, I was pretty mad at you, because of what I saw and that you didn't come all night."

She paused long enough for him to think that was the only explanation he would get, but then it all seemed to change, the mood, his surroundings, their relationship... because when she continued InuYasha could hear the pain she felt, could imagine how it all would appear in her mind and through her eyes, and understood what she was asking.

"That morning, after you didn't come, I looked at the tree and instead of having a happy feeling, a relieved and protected feeling, I was alone. You'd chosen her and you knew I knew and I felt like you didn't care. It seemed that you knew what I felt for you and you purposely turned away from me because I wasn't her, because I was only the reincarnation. And then I stabbed the tree because... well, it's stupid, really," she said, her voice taking a bashful tone.

He closed his eyes, willing tears not to come, not wanting to hear her but needing to know. "Tell me," he croaked, tell me what I've done, what I've destroyed...

Kagome swallowed, the annoying lump in her throat making it hard to talk. "I started loving you when I removed Kikyo's arrow, and, I thought, if I put the arrow back, maybe it wouldn't hurt so much."

"That maybe you'd stop loving me?" It hurt to even think, but it had to be said. He reminded himself again that he'd created this.

Kagome stood and turned to face the tree, her hand reaching out and passing over the rough scar.

"InuYasha, what do you want? I need to know, so...."

He raised his head, focusing on nothing in particular. "I want things to be the way they were, I want normalcy."

"Normalcy...", she echoed, "is there really such a thing?"

Before the silence could end the conversation completely, InuYasha stood and turned to Kagome. He watched her for a moment, the way her hair caught the breeze slightly and her eyes reflected tiny amounts of starlight. She was magical and she had been, possibly still was, in love with him.

"There was for me, after I met you and before I ruined it." Kagome's head snapped and her gaze locked with his. "I didn't know what I had until I couldn't have it. Even with Kikyo it felt wrong and I believe that for you, being with that bastard human is wrong." His voice had risen in volume and intensity as he spoke. He gave a growl, his hands fisted at his side.

Though he couldn't see it, Kagome's expression spoke volumes about the fury his words had invoked. She stood stone still, watching the half-demon fuss and fume, cursing the human side of his heritage, and silently containing her temper. She dropped her hand, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned on the tree. The dog demon continued to complain about being human.

"Calm down will you?" Kagome said, her voice controlled and even.

InuYasha stopped his ranting to regard her and finally noticed her thinly suppressed anger. Something he'd said had pushed a button, and he mentally kicked himself for sticking his foot in his mouth again.

"You know," she began, "I came out here to see if we could work out something so that we could continue collecting the shards without being awkward around one another, and to possibly salvage whatever it is that remains of our relationship." InuYasha flinched at her mention of their relationship. He opened his mouth to speak, but Kagome held up a hand, effectively silencing him.

"I guess I should have also asked if you were planning on listening to me at all or just nodding along and then doing whatever you want." She shoved away from the tree, climbed down to the ground, and began walking, stomping almost, back towards the village.

"Kagome," InuYasha called. She didn't stop. "Dammit, Kagome, were not done talking."

"Oh, yes we are," she replied without slowing. "I cannot believe I actually thought I might get through that thick skull of yours or that you might just be understanding. Talk about great expectations..."

"Wait, Kagome, let me finish." He caught her arm, spinning her to face him. "I want to apologize..."

Her eyebrows went up so high they disappeared under her bangs. "Apologize? You never..."

"Well I do now! But you owe me an apology too, and then we can get back to normal."

"What do I..."

"For getting with that guy. If I'm going to say 'I'm sorry' about Kikyo, you have to also for him."

Kagome wrenched her arm from his grasp and took a step back. Some scattered starlight fell across her face and InuYasha could hardly believe his eyes for what he saw. She wore an expression that crossed between horror and pity.

InuYasha tensed, trying to determine what she was focused on. His hand was on Tetsusaiga's hilt before he realized Kagome was giving him this look. Something in his stomach, that strange panic he'd felt a week before when he'd watched Kagome and the human man under the tree, rose up his throat and almost choked him.

"What?" he asked in a small voice.

Kagome took another step back, beyond his reach. "You think I did this, that I let Hojo comfort me just to get back at you?"

InuYasha shrugged, "well, you said so yourself that you were angry with me."

She gasped in amazement, tears of rage forming in her eyes. Kagome had to look at something else, anything else, before she lost control and hit him.

"Wow," she whispered. "You know, I thought we'd been together long enough to kind of know one another, to be able to understand how the other thinks."

"We do know each other, Kagome, that's why we can just apologize and go back to normal..."

"YOU DON'T KNOW ME!," she screamed.

"OF COURSE I KNOW YOU," he shouted back. "IT'S KIKYO'S SOUL IN THERE AND SHE'S MY SOUL MATE!!" InuYasha's voice drifted out into the forest, echoing for a brief measure before becoming part of the silence.

He had never really seen Kagome lose her composure. She was standing before him, just beyond arm reach, with tears streaming down her cheeks, and seething with anger. He could see her hating him, could see her trying to control her temper and her hurt feelings at the same time, could feel her leaving him with each passing second.

"Gods, Kagome," InuYasha took a cautious step forward, sorrow in his posture. "I...I don't, I mean, I'm..."

"Go to Hell"

She turned her back on him and began towards the village at a faster pace than earlier. The pain inside her blended with the hate she was currently feeling towards InuYasha causing her to be strangely numb. It was euphoric, calm, and wrong all in the same instant. Overall it made her want to hurt him back, to SIT him straight to Hell and then again, to tell him something that made him feel the way she felt. Empty, worthless, and alone.

Miroku and Sango were still outside Kaede's hut though now sitting a fair distance apart. In the dim starlight, Kagome could tell that the priest was sporting a few new bruises and that the demon huntress was still had an eagle eye on the man. She nodded to them as she passed, went through the forward room to where Hojo still slept, and then finally collapsed in a dark corner where she could see both her wounded friend and the door. Silent tears rained down her cheeks and Kagome just let them. She didn't care.

InuYasha approached Miroku and Sango, who were now standing next to each other; gazing at the door Kagome had just disappeared into.

"What happened?" Sango asked.

Miroku shrugged and then they both jumped when InuYasha, whom neither had heard approach, spoke.

"I fucked it up." He sighed in the eyes of his friends, letting his shoulders slouch and his eyes tear. "I told her..." Miroku looked expectant and Sango looked annoyed. "I told her that I knew her because her soul is Kikyo's and I know Kikyo."

Neither would meet his gaze when he asked them for advice. The priest and huntress both just shrugged, not exactly indifferent but rather unable to tell him anything. They had never experienced what he was going through so they didn't know how to help him fix the huge mess that had been created.

Finally Miroku stretched his back and slapped InuYasha on the shoulder.

"Let's sleep the night and see what we see in the morning. Something might change by then if we all just get some sleep." He nodded at Sango, checking her out head to toe, before asking if she would go check on Kagome.

She seethed mildly at him then turned and entered the hut.

"Go on," the priest said, giving the half-demon a little shove in the general direction of the door. As he entered, Miroku turned back to look out at the night. The strange light hovered over InuYasha's Forest. Kaede had said once that while InuYasha was imprisoned at the Goshinboku tree there had been such a light over the forest though it had originally disappeared when Kagome revived him. Miroku had chewed on reasons for the light's reappearance, especially since InuYasha was free and the general aura of the forest was not overly evil. The light made little to no sense at all.

He sighed in exhaustion and ducked inside the hut. InuYasha sat with his back to a corner facing the door and Shippou was still curled into a ball near the fire pit. Both demons were making slight snoring noises. Miroku half-smiled, stretched, said a small chant to establish a barrier of protection, and then settled himself for the rest of the night. No one dreamed.

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